How five American companies control what you think

Heavy distortions and suppressions of information regarding current Ukrainian events are appearing in US media.

You might wonder how so many different news sources could all
completely avoid mentioning that the US government is consciously
supporting two radical far-right parties, Svoboda and Right
Sector, which are in control of key positions in the
coup-installed new 'government' of the Ukraine. You
might also wonder why almost all the US mass media news sources
could conceal – with vague phrases like ''the sequence of
events is not clear' and similar techniques – the role of
these extremist organization in murdering dozens of unarmed
civilians in the past few days in southeastern Ukraine.

The explanation is surprisingly simple: There aren't numerous US
mass media news sources at all; there are just five. Five giant
corporations control 90 percent of US mass media. And direct
links connect all five of these media conglomerates to the
political establishment and the economic and political
power-elites of the United States.

These five conglomerates are Time Warner, Disney, Murdochs' News
Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS).
Their control spans most of the newspapers, magazines, books,
radio and TV stations, movie studios, and much of the web news
content of the United States. These conglomerates are in large
measure responsible for inculcating the social, political,
economic, and moral values of both adults and children in the
United States.

It was not always like this. Immediately after World War II three
out of four US newspapers were independently owned. But the
media-control numbers have been shrinking ever since then due to
mergers, acquisitions, and other processes. By 1983, 50
corporations controlled 90 percent of US media. But today just
five giant conglomerates control 90 percent of what most
Americans read, watch, and listen to.

It is notable and should be emphasized that all the five major
media conglomerates are corporate members of the Council on
Foreign relations. This organization is a US think-tank whose
members have been instrumental in formulating US government
policies resulting in sanctions, destabilization efforts, and
outright military attacks on nations which have never attacked
the US.

The Council's members’ activities helped to promote the Iraq war,
the bombings of Serbia and Libya, and the recent overthrow of the
elected government of the Ukraine. The promotion of these
policies by the media conglomerates which belong to the Council
has been key to preparing the American public to accept these
policies.

The media conglomerates’ fellow members of the Council on Foreign
relations include a large number of large corporations, powerful
CEO's, and present and former government officials. One prominent
member is former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew
Brzezinski, whose doctrine calling for US control of the Eurasian
landmass, which includes Russia and China, is one of the guiding
elements in US foreign policy.

It should also be noted that the conglomerates themselves are
giant corporations. They are among the largest companies in the
world. They contribute to both of America’s big parties, the
Republicans and Democrats, while supporting their policies. US
media companies have also received from the Reagan, Clinton, and
Bush administrations progressively greater media deregulation,
which permitted ever greater media ownership concentration,
culminating for the first time in allowing all the media in a
community or city to be owned by one company.

Pages would be needed to list the thousands of information
outlets now controlled by the five conglomerates. A few examples
will have to suffice. News Corp owns Fox News, the Wall Street
Journal, Barrons weekly, the London times, far Eastern Economic
review, the New York Post, and hundreds of other large and small
city and community newspapers, magazines, and internet
properties.

And Disney is not just about Mickey Mouse Cartoons these days, as
it owns ABC Television, magazine publishing business, Disney
Films, Lucas Films, and a huge number of other media and
entertainment enterprises.

Following the Government Wherever it goes

Now let us perform a thought experiment to see how far the
conglomerates can go to support government foreign policies.
Imagine that US policy-makers decide a few years from now that
the current US-supported and unelected Ukrainian 'government' no
longer serves their interests.

They might then announce that this government is
'undemocratic', 'is a human rights violator' or
that it is a 'failed state' and that 'there must be
'regime change' to 'protect the Ukrainian people.'

Following suit, the media conglomerates would then 'sound the
alarm.' They would 'discover' the reality – which has
existed all along – that “fascist or extreme-right forces are
part of the coup-imposed Ukrainian 'government,” that there
is a “history of anti-Semitism,” “murders of
ethnic-minorities,” and conclude that the US government is
right and a humanitarian intervention to remove the government is
required.

Is this scenario an impossible one? Not at all. It is precisely
how the repressive and brutal government of Saddam Hussein, to
cite just one example, was dealt with. For many years he was
praised by US officials as a “stalwart ally” and sent
billions of dollars’ worth of military aid – and the media
conglomerates went along for the ride.

Then, in the twinkling of an eye he was converted by the US
government – and by the media – into a “tyrant,” a
“ruthless killer,” a possessor of “weapons of mass
destruction” aimed at the US; and a man whose country must
be invaded.

Or consider Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan. For years the
US government supported them with weapons and training and
portrayed them as 'freedom fighters' against their secular
'socialist government' and the 'Russian occupation'. The media
for the most part went along with this narrative.

But then, after 9/11, in the twinkling of an eye, the
fundamentalists became (in the eyes of the government and the
conglomerates) 'medievalists,''oppressors of
women,' and harborers of 'terrorism' who must be eliminated
via a US invasion.

Recently, the US government, unable after ten years of military
occupation to eliminate the Taliban resistance, has again changed
course, and is seeking negotiations with the Taliban to include
them in the Afghani government. And again the five conglomerates
have also changed course to follow the government.

The best advice for anyone seeking to understand current events
is to look at the history and realities behind them, and to look
at media not controlled by the five conglomerates. Media –
including print, television, and internet – is available in
multiple languages including English from Russia, China, India,
Pakistan, South Africa, the Middle East, Brazil, and other
countries. You can easily find this media by internet search. No
doubt all media contains bias; but at least your mind will not be
shaped solely by the US narrative.